How to Attract Butterflies

Butterflies not only add colours and beauty to your garden, but they can also help in pollinating your plants. However, attracting butterflies can be a little tricky – it’s not as simple as just putting some greeneries around, but it’s attainable nevertheless. Follow these five tips and have butterflies roaming around your garden in no time:

Avoid Pesticides.

A lot of pesticides, even the organic ones, could be toxic to butterflies and other pollinating insects. Try to use the safest, least intrusive pest control that you can get access to.

Use Native Plants.

Plants and pollinators have co-evolved throughout the time, depending on each other to survive in the conditions of your geographic area. Using local, native plants will help your garden thrive longer and keep butterflies around.

Bright-Colored Flowers Attract Bright-Colored Butterflies.

Because butterflies see on the UV spectrum, they tend to prefer bright-colored flowers, such as red, yellow, orange, white and hot pink. Flowers also act as nectar sources for butterflies to feed on, helping them grow and stay alive.

Keep Nectar and Pollen Sources Available All Year Round.

Following the previous point, it is important to ensure the availability of nectar and pollen sources all year round if you want the butterflies to keep coming. Diverse plants with different blooming periods of the year will enable you to do this – when one stops blooming, another will start.

Create Conducive Environment for Butterflies to Grow.

Ensure that your garden (and nectar sources) has enough sun exposure – butterflies feed, rest and warm their wings in the sun. Don’t forget to prepare flat stones or chairs in the sun-exposed area for butterflies to rest on as well. Finally, butterflies love puddling or hanging out in wet sand/mud to drink and extract minerals. You can create a puddling space by mixing some coarse sand with water in a shallow pan and placing it on the ground.